Gdp Highest In 10 Years

BUSINESS BRIEFING

May 1, 1997

The U.S. economy surged this past quarter at its fastest pace in almost 10 years, the government reported Wednesday.

Commerce Department figures showed that the gross domestic product _ the nation's total output of goods and services _ grew at a 5.6 percent annual rate after adjustment for inflation, up from 3.8 percent the previous quarter and well above the 2 percent to 2.5 percent range that the Fed wants to see.

However, analysts said they still expect the economy to slow somewhat in coming months, and inflation remained moderate. Prices rose at a 2.2 percent annual rate during the quarter, compared to 2.6 percent in late 1996.

Wireless auction probed

The Justice Department has launched a probe of possible collusion by bidders in a Federal Communications Commission auction of licenses for wireless personal communications services.

Investigators from the department's antitrust division ``are looking at the possibility of anticompetitive conduct by bidders in connection with the FCC's auctioning of spectrum for PCS,'' antitrust division spokeswoman Gina Talamona said.

The government has sent civil subpoenas demanding information from a number of bidders in the FCC's PCS auction that ended in mid-January, according to a lawyer who has seen the subpoena.

The nation's largest hospital chain said net income rose to $479 million, or 70 cents a share, from $416 million, or 61 cents, in the year-earlier period. Revenue climbed 7.6 percent to $5.33 billion from $4.95 billion in the year-earlier period.

Columbia shares rose 62.5 cents to $35 Wednesday.

The positive earnings news came despite a New York Times report that federal agencies are looking into the company's Medicare billing practices.

Rand McNally may sell

Rand McNally, the world's largest commercial map maker, may be up for sale, the 141-year-old privately held company said.

The cartographic firm said it had retained investment bank Goldman Sachs Group LP ``to assist in the exploration of its strategic options for the future, including the possible sale of the company.''

Other possibilities include a first-ever public stock sale or a joint venture with another company. The company, based in Skokie, Ill., also calls itself the premier global provider of geographic information in both print and electronic media for travel, reference, education and entertainment.

Levi's data stolen

Levi Strauss & Co. may have a public relations fiasco on its hands after discovering that personal information on up to 20,000 of its employees has been stolen from the company's San Francisco headquarters.

But some human resources experts said the jeans maker probably could not have done more to prevent the culprit _ who apparently stole one of Levi's computer hard drives that contained the names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers of virtually all the company's employees.

U.S. boosts bond rates

U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin announced a new formula designed to improve the return on savings bonds.

Interest on the bonds will accrue monthly instead of every six months, Rubin said. Also, bondholders will be penalized three months interest if they don't hold the bonds for at least five years.

American purchases of savings bonds have declined in recent years. Last year, Americans bought $6.0 billion in savings bonds, down from $7.2 billion in 1995 and $8.0 billion in 1994, Treasury said.

Rubin announced that savings bonds issued after May 1 will earn a higher rate based on 90 percent of the average five-year Treasury yields for the previous six months.